Two to One
by MidoriNoOra
Summary: In Harry's sixth year the final battle with Voldemort begins. There is only one way for Harry to destroy Voldemort, but it requires five other people to risk their lives.... Yeah, I know, I stink at summaries, oh well ; DMGW, RWHG, HPFC. Please R & R!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own the characters that you recognize. They belong to J. K. Rowling. ^^  
  
Two to One  
  
Prologue  
  
A warm breeze fluttered through the dense foliage. Scattered moonlight littered the footpath winding beneath the trees. The crickets softly sang and lightening bugs danced in the darkness. Small night creatures fled the path as a girl tread softly on the worn grass. Her smooth, dark curls, dappled with moonlight, lifted with the breeze as she primly walked through the night.  
  
Silvery music pushed through the air as the pathway wound by the stream.  
  
The path ended at a spring, but the girl did not stop as earth rose to support her; as she passed, it sifted silently back into the frothy water. The girl stepped onto the small island in the middle of the spring where the old weeping cherry stood; the dark trunk stretched gracefully upward, the branches flowing down, laden with small blossoms. The girl silently knelt underneath the canopy of blooms.  
  
Time passed before an ethereal figure shimmered into the girl's view. Her head slowly lifted, taking in the fabric flowing around shapely, diaphanous legs in the light breeze. Her eyes traveled to a smooth waist, an ample chest, and a face almost too beautiful to look at. The spirit's hair, a mirror of her own, flowed with its raiment, almost concealing the metal piece holding the stone that signified its place in the worlds: Winona, the first born.  
  
The divinity smiled indulgently at the budding girl. It was her sixteenth year and she would be leaving. She would travel over many waters to reach her place of providence. Now the time was pertinent to give its gift of knowledge.  
  
"Faine, my young child," said the deity, " tomorrow is the beginning of your sixteenth year and your new life. You will be traveling far to cultivate your unique gifts. But there is one last thing that you need before you go."  
  
A kiss was lightly pressed against Faine's smooth forehead and she felt as though her heart was gushing over with warmth; the figure tilted before her. As the dizziness disappeared her eyes found a small ball of fur in her lap. She looked quickly up at the divinity before her; but, on seeing Winona's intent gaze on the ball, she slowly looked back down. After a moment the fur ball moved. It extended and stretched to reveal a miniature Siberian tiger, no bigger than a house-cat. It stretched again and yawned, looking up at Faine with HER green eyes. It purred softly and sat down in her lap.  
  
Faine looked back up at Winona with amazement lying over her face and found the deity's eyes looking at her with merriment.  
  
"Ora will be your companion."  
  
"What, exactly, IS Ora?"  
  
"She will tell you later, but now is not the time. It is time for you two to leave. Morning approaches and you need to return to school." And, with that, Winona vanished.  
  
(A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first fan fic, so please R & R. Some name help: Winona was a legendary American Indian princess, from the Dakota tribe I believe. The name means first born. Faine is an Irish name (pronounced Fen-yah) and I'm not exactly sure what it means. I found it in Juliet Marillier's Child of the Prophecy and I just fell in love with the name, but my character is not Juliet Marillier's Faine. They are DIFFERENT. And Ora means aura in Japanese.) 


	2. Changes

(A/N: Come on you guys! REVIEW!!! I feel kinda pathetic :-( . Dysis: MY FIRST REVIEWER!! *curties deeply* Muchas gracias! Merci! Danka! Arigato! I appreciate your nice comments. ^^ Nerwen Faelvirin: er.thanks for the interesting part ^^; but I promise it's a Harry Potter fan fic, don't worry! Just keep reading.)  
  
Disclaimer: I almost forgot ^^;; All of the characters in the chapter belong to J. K. Rowling. Thank you  
  
Chapter 1 Changes  
  
Warm, golden sunlight burst forth over Surrey, dissipating the morning mist. It slowly crept into the houses, glancing off glass and metal to shine in the face of a sleeping teenage boy.  
  
Harry Potter rolled over on top of the sheets trying, in vain, to remain asleep, for an incessant tapping noise began to fill the room. Grunting sleepily, he pulled himself up to find the source of the noise. After putting on his glasses he found an owl fluttering outside the window with a newspaper, attempting to gain admittance.  
  
Harry got slowly out of bed, his ankles popping as he crossed to his window. The owl soared in, slightly clipping Harry on the head. The sweet morning air followed it so Harry left the window open. He turned around and rummaged through his open trunk, coming up with a moneybag and paying the owl. It flew out through the window as doors begin to open through the house; the Dursleys were up.  
  
Ever since Harry had gotten home from Hogwarts the Dursleys had been surprisingly tolerant. No complaining about Hedwig, his news watching habit, or his newspaper. Harry was surprised at this since the pictures moved and were sure to catch the family's eyes. Although Harry suspected that the threat delivered to them from his friends in the Order of the Phoenix at the train station was still fresh in their minds.  
  
The summer was mild and Death Eater attacks had begun in earnest. Several non-Pureblood families had been threatened and a few Muggles had already been killed. Everything in the Wizarding world was tense and grim. Harry expected his elementary protection guide to arrive any day now and was wondering what the Dursleys would make of it.  
  
Harry walked downstairs to the kitchen, his wand in the band of his jeans and the Daily Prophet in his hand. As soon as Harry walked into the room the Dursleys visibly stiffened. His Aunt Petunia stood at the counter slicing fruit. His cousin, Dudley, and his Uncle Vernon were sitting at the table, both reading a section of a Muggle newspaper. Harry plopped down onto his chair and unrolled his paper as his aunt brought him some fruit.  
  
Harry turned to his aunt, his face questioning, but he realized that all she wanted to do was look at the paper. He began to hand her a page when she gave him a warning glance and moved back to the counter.  
  
Shrugging, Harry turned back to the Daily Prophet, scanning the articles. As nothing popped out at him (though this was quite possible) he set the newspaper aside and began to eat. Dudley was still on his diet. Both boxing AND his new eating habits had done wonders for his body. Dudley Dursley no longer took up two seats at the table. In fact, he took up less than one (if that can possibly be imagined). His arms and legs now showed his newly acquired muscles. His fingers no longer looked short and fat, but proportionate. His middle had also enormously improved. It was no longer round, but thinner and almost muscular. And he now only had one chin to contend with.  
  
But what really surprised Harry about Dudley wasn't his appearance. It seemed that Dudley had turned over a new leaf. He no longer bullied Harry or the other kids in the neighborhood. He was almost NICE to Harry, for that matter.  
  
The mail slot clicked as Harry unfolded the Muggle newspaper that Dudley had been reading. Harry and Dudley looked at one another and Dudley got up to get the mail. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Harry looked on in shock as Dudley calmly walked in with the mail, handed it to his father, and sat back down, grabbing another section of his newspaper.  
  
After a moment, when no explanation came or seemed to be coming, they all resumed what they had been doing.  
  
Finally, Aunt Petunia broke the silence by asking, "What time do you want to go to London, Dudley?"  
  
Dudley looked up at her and said, "I dunno, anytime you want, Mum."  
  
(A/N: Hey, minna-san! Sorry that I took so long with such a short chapter. But now that a new girl has been hired and my hours have been cut (:-( .gr) I'll have more time to write. And today is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. A moment of silence please................... OK, I know you're probably wondering why on earth Dudley is being nice, but let me just say that everything in this fan fic will probably have a reason ^^ You'll see! R & R porfavor!) 


	3. Through the Grapvine

(A/N: You guys.I know you're reading this, why aren't you reviewing??? -_- ; Please review! And sorry for taking so long.gomen nasai.) Nerwen Faelvirin: Thanks for reviewing ^^ I appreciate it. i dont have a heart: Thanks! ^^ Yeah, I think it's kinda weird that Dudley's being nice, too. ^^ Aldrea2: *bows* Arigato! ^^ Thanks for your comments. Yes, I rather like the tiger ^^ lol, you'll see it later, don't worry. TIm: (although I'm sure you meant Tim) ^^ hey! Thanks for finally reading and reviewing ^^ WAHOO! Lol, yeah, I guess the tiger does kinda stand out ^^; Kati: Thanks! Lol, you'll just have to keep reading, that's why I put hooks in. ^^ Yeah, I was hoping someone would notice that I was emulating Rowling's style in the last chapter. But I'll try to keep to my own style from now on ^^. Please keep reviewing you guys!!)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the things that you recognize because they belong to J. K. Rowling! ^^  
  
Chapter 2 Through the Grapevine  
  
The heat was almost unbearable. The brown grass crinkled as grasshoppers jumped around restlessly. Cicadas buzzed among the green trees in the forest behind the Burrow. The blazing sun beat down forming a halo around a head of red hair.  
  
Ginny Weasley sat in the path of light streaming in through the open window listening to her mother reading a selection to her form one of her homemaking books. Ginny's mind unsurprisingly strayed from the words, her shoulders twitching fretfully in her cotton shirt. A drop of sweat slid slowly between her breasts tickling her skin, seemingly knowing that she could not scratch.  
  
Finally, Mrs. Weasley brought her reading to an end and excused Ginny, bustling to the kitchen muttering something about lunch. Ginny gratefully got out of her chair and went outside. She stood in the yard for a while, the chickens pecking at the dry ground around her. After a few moments with no breath of wind, she turned and walked into the woods. Walking through the trees she noticed that the shade provided little relief.  
  
A few minutes later she decided to turn back for lunch when she suddenly noticed that something was different. The air smelled different and it wasn't as oppressive. The light was dimmer than before as if clouds suddenly obscured the sky; and the cicada's music had diminished.  
  
Ginny quickly turned around, but nothing was the same.  
  
Her heart began thudding loudly against her chest; adrenaline raced into her legs, the coolness mobilizing them to a frantic sprint in the direction she was supposed to have come from. She desperately turned her head, her eyes wildly searching for something familiar.  
  
After a while her adrenaline rush subsided and fatigue set in. She came up to a wall of vines bursting with wild grapes and sat down, panting hard.  
  
"Who's there?"  
  
Ginny jumped in surprise standing up and staring wildly around for the source of the voice. A rustling came from behind the vines and she turned backing away.  
  
"Who's there?" the voice repeated.  
  
Finding her voice, Ginny finally squeaked out, "Um.Seraphina."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I-I don't know."  
  
This answer was greeted with a tense silence. Then the voice softened and asked, "Where are you from, then?"  
  
"Not here," said Ginny, taken aback by the grim tone that she took. "What about YOU? What's YOUR name? Why are YOU here? Where do YOU come from?"  
  
"My name is Amon and I live here."  
  
"Oh.." Ginny lowered her head in embarrassment although she knew that the boy through the wall could not see her. "I'm sorry, I'll leave then," she said, wondering how she could possibly get back.  
  
"No! Wait.." Ginny paused, surprised by the pleading tone that had been so commanding before. "You might as well stay."  
  
"Uh.o.k.." Ginny cautiously sat down next to the wall.  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"How about no specifics?" Ginny's memory of Riddle's diary stood out painfully in her mind.  
  
"Okay, so I suppose Seraphina isn't your real name, is it?" Silence. "I see.so, you sound about my age.sixteen, perhaps?"  
  
"Perhaps." Taking a stab in the dark, Ginny decided to ask if this 'Amon' knew how she could get back. "Do you, by any chance, know how I can get back?"  
  
"Er.I suppose you could just go back the way you came."  
  
Ginny mentally smacked her head, thinking, 'You idiot!'  
  
(A/N: Hey, guys! Some name help: Seraphina is English for "fiery" and Amon is from Egyption mythology and it means "the hidden one." Can you guess who Amon really is? ^^ heh. A question for my reviewers: Which style do you like better for this fan fic: mine or Ms. Rowling's? Please R&R!!) 


	4. The Rescue

(A/N: Sorry about the short chapters ^^...school is my excuse ^^ Sorry! Nerwen Faelvirin: Yeah, sorry about that, I will try my best to make them longer... Fallenangel: YAY! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! Lol sry about that, Ginny was walking when suddenly everything just changed, she panicked and started running until she came to this wall of grapevines and she just sat down next to it ^^;;)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the things you recognize, J. K. Rowling does...and no money is being made, so please don't sue ^^  
  
Chapter 3 The Rescue  
  
Amber sunlight burst through the open doors, flooding the neat room. The whitewashed walls blushed with it and it formed a halo around a head of curly brown hair.  
  
Hermione Granger raised her head, her eyes half open and groaned sleepily before letting her head fall back onto her pillow. Her eyes fluttered until she pushed herself up from the bed. The light blinding her eyes, she groped around for her dressing gown like a blind woman. Finally, after a momentary search, she swung on the light cloth and walked through the open French doors onto a small, cluttered balcony.  
  
Looking upward, a handsome young man down in a shady street caught sight of an angelic vision. The morning sunlight lit up a prettily feminine figure on a high balcony. A halo even shined around her head. He half expected her to have wings. A small breeze lifted her brown hair and pale dressing robe. At that moment, a choir began to chant in the church not too far down the quiet street completing the aestheticism above him.  
  
After a moment, in which the young man continued to stare skyward, Hermione turned and moved back into the house. The young man waited to see if she would come back out, but then he noticed that a large barn owl glided into the room after her.  
  
"Well, well, well...a witch."  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
Hermione turned around with her money just as the owl swooped into her room, landing silently on her tousled bed. After paying the bird and watching it depart, Hermione opened the Daily Prophet and quietly scanned the, by now, very familiar layout.  
  
FIRST WIZARD DEAD IN SECOND WAR  
  
There it was. In black and white. The wizarding world's worst fears were confirmed. Voldemort was back.  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
The day was sunny, and the wind was balmy; not a cloud marred the sky. Hermione drank in the multitude of colors coming from every direction. The noise of the market shaded by colorful canopies dully roared around her. A fresh, green smell filled the air as she walked between the numerous stalls consulting the list that her aunt had given her.  
  
"Okay...I've gotten the lettuce and carrots and the cantaloupe.... Tomatoes...where are the tomatoes?"  
  
At that moment somebody stumbled into her, making her lose one of her bags. A cantaloupe burst open spraying the ground with juice. A callous hand closed around Hermione's now free upper arm and held her firmly in a vice-like grip. Her mouth opened in surprise as cold metal threateningly pressed against her side and her body stiffened as someone breathed harshly into her ear.  
  
"Ne pas parler. Vous allez marcher par-dessus le fruit et la promenade jusqu'à ce que vous atteignez la fin du marché. Alors, vous marcherez dans l'allée derrière ce bâtiment blanc là-bas. Maintenant aller!" *  
  
The man firmly steered Hermione away from the annoyed shouts and into an alley, her mind frantically trying to figure out what he had said to her. After hurriedly walking deeper into the rather smelly alley the man suddenly stopped and jerked Hermione around to face him.  
  
His probably-once light eyes, shrunken into his dark, haggard face, roamed over her restrained body as he continued to hold his knife to her side. A year ago this man wouldn't have even looked at her in the first place. But now, Hermione knew that she had, indeed, become a woman. She had filled out quite nicely and she now deeply regretted borrowing her cousin's rather revealing clothes.  
  
At that moment, somebody walked up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her gently away from the knife at her side.  
  
"Oh! Merci si beaucoup de, monsieur, pour trouver ma soeur! J'étais si m'est inquiété quand elle a erré de!" **  
  
Startled, her captor let go of her and ran off down the alley. When he was gone she turned to face her rescuer.  
  
He was almost a full head taller than her. He was thin and his sweat stained wife-beater revealed a tightly muscular stomach. He was breathing rapidly; 'Perhaps,' Hermione thought, 'he had been running....' His chest was nice and compact and one of his defined arms was still on her shoulder. His light green eyes, now looking her up and down, made a sharp contrast with his dark skin. He had an almost perfect complexion; only a little stubble from a lack of shaving showed on his face. His slightly prominent cheekbones framed his almost aristocratic nose. He stepped back from her and grinned.  
  
"Well, you don't look like you're from around here. What's your name?"  
  
Hermione stood silent for a moment, taken aback by the casualty of his voice. The sudden switch of situation was making her quite dizzy. "Erm...Hermione."  
  
"That's quite an unusual name," he mused. "And where are you from?" He began to walk back down the alley and motioned for her to follow him.  
  
"Britain. Listen, thanks for saving me back there—"  
  
"Don't worry about it. It was nothing," he said dismissively. He continued to lead her back to the market. Hermione wondered, for the first time, how he knew that she didn't speak French.  
  
"So, where are you staying?"  
  
"With my cousins," Hermione answered after a slight pause. She knew that it would be quite imprudent of her to not be discreet with strangers; especially after what happened in the market. Apparently he picked up on it and let it rest.  
  
"I think I've seen you before," he stated after a while.  
  
"Maybe, but I've certainly never seen you before," Hermione returned, a blush sweeping up her neck. 'I most certainly would have remembered if I had,' she thought.  
  
They continued to walk in silence as the sun began to set lighting the whole city on fire. They continued to walk and Hermione noticed that they were slowly heading toward her aunt's house.  
  
"Here is where I leave you," he said suddenly, stopping at the end of her aunt's street. "I trust you'll be able to find your way."  
  
As he turned and began to move quickly down another street Hermione called after him, "But you never told me your name!"  
  
He slowed down to a stop and slowly turned to face her. He stood like that for a moment, framed by amber sunlight. "Eric."  
  
And, with that, he turned and began to run.  
  
(A/N: Hey guys! I'm REALLY REALLY sorry for taking this long. The AP exams are coming up, so I'm being bogged down with those classes and we just had the UIL competition in band (we won Sweepstakes). Once the AP exams are over I'll most definitely be able to write more often. ^^;)  
  
*This means: "Do not speak. You are going to step over the fruit and walk until you reach the end of the market. Then, you will walk into the alley behind that white building over there. Now go!"  
  
** This means: "Oh! Thank you so much, sir, for finding my sister! I was so worried when she wandered off!" 


End file.
